The Workbench
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Leopard 2A6 (1/72), Part I
I will never build a 1/72 scale AFV again. I know I said that last time, but this time I really mean it. The parts are just too small.
Dragon made a really nice kit, though. The only problem I had with the assembly was the sink marks in the baskets on the rear of the turret. I dealt with that by ignoring it. I was determined to build the Leopard quickly, out-of-the-box as a test for my new airbrush, so I wasn't too worried about accuracy. I'm sure I'll regret that later.
The painting went better than I expected. I'm used to using the Gunze Sangyo Mr Color paints -- they're lacquer-based and really stand up to washing and weathering. Unfortunately, they're impossible to find in the States so I picked up Tamiya's acrylic NATO range. I primed the tank with Tamiya's primer and laid down a base coat of the NATO green, followed by a freehand camouflage pattern in NATO brown and then NATO black. Things were going well -- too well.
I hear everyone seals their acrylic paint jobs with Future floor wax. I couldn't find any, so I used Model Master clear gloss from a spray can. It seemed to work really well. I got the decals on with no problem using MicroSet and MicroSol. So far, so good. Then I went to clean off the excess setting solution.
For some reason, I decided to use rubbing alcohol to clean the tank. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I gave the rear turret panel a quick swipe and took off the clear enamel as well as the acrylic paint. Crap. So then, I decided to try washing the tank in a bowl of soap and water -- and a big spot of paint on the turret front washed completely away. Crap. I guess I should have also washed the tank before painting.
So that's where I am. I'll go back and touch up the front of the turret and I'm hoping a wash will hide the light spot in the rear. And I'll look for some Future before I start weathering.